Mark Beckford, Staff Reporter

Keisha and Reginald Hird pose with their quadruplets during a farewell reception before leaving the University Hospital of the West Indies in St Andrew yesterday.- Junior Dowie/Staff Photographer

Three of the girls, Isabelle (left), Gabrielle (second left) and Annabelle (second right), were going home with their parents, while the fourth, Ruth Ann, will stay behind for further observation.

Clad in pink, the Hird quadruplets posed for the cameras with their parents Reginald and Keisha, oblivious to the fact that today was another important day in their almost one month on Earth.

The girls were going home - well at least three of them. The eldest, Ruth Ann, will remain behind for additional observation.

That, however, did not detract from the moment the Hirds experienced as the medical staff of the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) bid them farewell in a warm and intimate ceremony in St Andrew, yesterday.

There was laughter, smiles and cries from both adults and babies as they reflected on the experience.

The girls' mother got very emotional yesterday as she spoke of her experience in the hospital and how thankful she was for the help of the staff.

"I must say thanks to God for carrying me through the pregnancy," she said between tears. She later told The Gleaner she was looking forward to watching her girls grow up.

exciting

"Just taking care of them, seeing them change, seeing the little things that babies normally do and seeing that it is all of four we have, it will be even more exciting taking care of them. Challenging, but exciting," the soft-spoken Keisha said.

An equally beaming Reginald also expressed gratitude to the hospital, whose staff he described as 'world-class'. He, too, said he was looking forward to taking his daughters home.

"In taking them home, we are looking forward to the fact that they are finally with us and we'll start the process of being totally responsible for them all on our own," he said with a big smile. "I'm certain that in spite of the challenges that we will have, there are going to be joyful moments."

Reginald added: "I'm sorry we won't be able to videotape every single moment of the day with them because I am certain, in time, when we sit back and we watch them, we will have a lot to laugh about."

The baby girls, weighing between 1.1 and 1.6 kilos, were delivered at the UHWI between 10:14 a.m. and 10:15 a.m. on January 24, making them the first quadruplet birth in the nation's recorded history.

mark.beckford@gleanerjm.com